Appalachian Trail Adventure Day 5 (6/21/21)

Horns Pond Lean To to Carrabassett Valley

5.1 Miles

Today is going to be a relatively short entry, as it was a nero day today. A nero day is a day on which you hike very few (or “near zero”) miles, usually into a town.

I woke up at 6 AM, but I knew that my Hostel of Maine pickup wasn’t until 1 PM, so I was in no rush. I sat around camp for a couple hours writing blog entries and listening to podcasts, and finally got on trail around 8:15.

The trail was very rocky and steep downhill, so the going was slow. It took me about three hours to make it to the road, and then I sat down to wait the approximately two hours until my pickup.

As I was sitting there, a man approached me and offered to shuttle me to Hostel of Maine for $10. I saw no real advantage to it, so I thanked him for his offer but declined.

A few minutes later, who should emerge from the tree line but Bear. He really flew this morning, getting up early and hiking hard over the Bigelows to make it to the highway. It confirmed for me something that I had suspected. Bear is such a strong young guy that he is going to blow past me once he gets his trail legs under him.

We sat and chatted in the AT parking lot while waiting for the shuttle from the Hostel of Maine. It was a little weird when the shuttle said Holiday Inn, but apparently the hostel purchased it recently. Either way, Bear and I were happy to get to the hostel.

The Hostel of Maine is very different from most other hostels I have stayed at, in that it is super clean and well kept. They actually make you store your pack outside, and get cleaned up as soon as you enter, which goes a long way towards their goal of cleanliness. By the way, I don’t know if you noticed this, but Hostel of Maine has a really cute acronym. H.O.ME. Nice, right?

When Bear and I arrived, we saw Honeydew sitting on the front porch of the hostel. I didn’t know this, because I met them both separately, but apparently Bear and Honeydew already knew each other, but it was when Honeydew had a different trail name. Changing trail names seems to be a big thing so far.

Getting cleaned up felt really good, and once I was through with that, I hung around the common room writing blog entries and catching up on news. I do want to thank TL, JT, and Dagnabit for their comments so far. JT, I will let you know if I think of a hiker name for you.

The relative tranquility of the day was shattered when two other hikers showed up. We’ll call them A and B to protect their identities. They seemed okay at first. They were a bit short on money, so their well conceived plan was to have the hostel let them stay for free by doing some menial labor, a system called work for stay. This system is popular in the White Mountain Huts, but I hadn’t heard of it being used in hostels very often. Apparently Shaw’s will do it, because Poet has a huge soft spot for hikers in trouble. Sterling Inn told me they will do it on rare occasion if a hiker has a specialized skill such as carpentry that makes it worthwhile. As for Hostel of Maine, their policy was that they might offer work for stay after a guest had paid to stay the first night.

Well, that didn’t work for A and B, as A declared that they will never stay at a hostel that doesn’t offer work for stay. I personally think it’s crazy to try to hike the trail without having the money to even do one night at a hostel on occasion, but the trail does attract all kinds.

I went back inside to get more work done, and when I got back outside, I noticed that A and B were gone. I asked Bear about it, and he told me that they were in the woods across the parking lot shouting at each other. Bear and Honeydew were standing on the porch watching to make sure that no domestic violence occurred.

Unfortunately, the hostel’s beautiful dog, Zoe, decided to go see what was going on. Honeydew chased after her, and that led to A and B coming out of the woods. A seemed to me to be fairly typical hiker trash, which is actually an affectionate term that us dirty, smelly hikers use for each other. B, though, was something else. He didn’t seem with it or coherent. Bear, Honeydew, and I speculated that he was on some drug.

Bear and Honeydew went into the parking lot to talk to A, and B stood up on the porch, where I sat keeping an eye on him. Eventually I decided that the situation was under control, and I went back inside.

Technically, because of the hostel rules, B wasn’t allowed to come into the main building, but that didn’t stop him from doing so a few minutes later. That’s when his behavior became even more bizarre. The hostel has a bunch of clothes hanging by the door, and B asked me what they were. I explained that they were loaner clothes, which are there so that hikers that are staying can have clothes to wear while their laundry is being done. B acknowledged what I said, and began picking clothes off the rack. Puzzled, I asked if he had decided to stay, and he didn’t respond. B carried the clothes outside, and ran into the hostel owner, Justin, who asked him to put them back please. He dumped them in a pile near the door, and went back outside.

I wandered outside, and the weirdness only continued. A was with Bear and Honeydew in the parking lot, while B was wandering back and forth on the porch muttering to himself, sometimes audibly and sometimes not. I was chatting with another hiker named Bag Bowl, but keeping one eye on B in case things went south. At one point B looked like he was going to wander off the property, but his pack was still on the porch. At another point Bear thought he saw B flash a knife, but I didn’t see it. 

It was becoming clear that a solution to the problem needed to be found, and soon, as it was supposed to rain that night. I think it was Honeydew that finally stumbled on the solution, though I am not one hundred percent sure about that. A and B were shuttled to a free camp site near a motel. Honeydew knew some people that were staying there and could keep an eye on things.

The only problem was getting A and B to the camp site. Justin isn’t a big guy, and no one wanted him shuttling by himself in case something happened, so Bear and Honeydew went with him.

Once that entire situation was resolved, it was time for me to have dinner. The hostel was ordering takeout from a local restaurant, but that appeared to not be a great option, as it was expensive and didn’t appear vegetarian friendly. Thus, I had a DiGiorno pizza from the hostel’s refrigerator. It was fine.

The rest of the evening was spent posting blog entries and chatting with Bear and Honeydew. I promised this would be a shorter entry, so I am going to end it here, but not before reminding you to always remember that you can’t take flight until you spread your wings.

Oh, and posting today’s flower challenge.